The European Commission has threatened to take further legal action against member states who refuse to take in illegal immigrants, it has been announced.
According to MTI, Dimitris Avramopoulos, the European commissioner for migration, home affairs and citizenship has threatened to implement the final step in the infringement procedure unless members change their position.
The commissioner has urged member states that have refused to take in migrants - specifically Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic - to step up their efforts to relocate illegal immigrants from Greece and Italy.
Reports suggest that the commissioner welcomed the European Court of Justice’s (ECJ) decision to dismiss a case launched by Hungary and Slovakia challenging the legality of the EU’s migrant resettlement scheme and uphold the legality of a European Council resolution on relocating 120,000 refugees to member states on a mandatory basis.
Commissioner Avramopoulos said member states have until September 26 to relocate all eligible asylum seekers from Greece and Italy. He said that if member states did not abide by European guidelines in regards to the resettlement scheme, their cases would be referred to the ECJ.